


i hope you find a way to be yourself someday

by birdycurtains



Series: Wish I Were Her [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Healthy Relationships, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Past Peter Parker/Tony Stark - Freeform, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Mess, Post-Break Up, Protective Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, and they were ROOMMATES, mentioned Pepper Potts - Freeform, mentioned Tony Stark, omg they were roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24335776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdycurtains/pseuds/birdycurtains
Summary: "In weakness or in strength, change can be amazing."Takes place two months after "back of a cab."
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Peter Parker
Series: Wish I Were Her [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747495
Comments: 2
Kudos: 84





	i hope you find a way to be yourself someday

It feels heavy in his hand.

Peter has measured the density of countless things, including paper, and it was never this strenuous of a task to hold a simple card.

But it felt as if his hand was being weighed down by a slab of concrete, grounding him to the exact second he looked at the wedding invitation.

He should’ve been ready for this. He knew it was coming, and he certainly knew Pepper wouldn’t hesitate to invite Tony’s favorite protege to their wedding. 

He knew that his presence wouldn’t have been desired if Tony Stark had decided on the guest list. Especially since he saw the same wine-colored invitation face down on the coffee table.

Tony would never have invited Bucky. They were on decent terms at most, and he remembered how Tony’s therapist had been encouraging him in the direction of forgiveness for Bucky’s crimes against his parents.

It was one of the few things Tony and Peter had actually fought about. 

Tony had wanted to move Peter into the tower, or even a nice brownstone in the village that he owned. 

Peter firmly declined, because how was he going to make it in life, if he was constantly depending on Tony? And besides, Bucky was a great roommate, and they split the rent, so it wasn’t like he was shelling out his life savings on some shoebox. 

Maybe things would have been different.

Peter feels the warm glare of the sun pour through the windows as it begins to drop behind the skyline. He tries to level himself within his own reality, ground himself on to the warped hardwood flooring of his apartment. 

His sensitive hearing picks up on the squeaking of knobs bringing a halt to the shower in the bathroom. The rustling of the shower curtain, and then a towel being pulled from the rack. His trained ear follows the sounds that signals Bucky is done, it means Bucky will be here, and save him from the rabbit hole that is thinking about Tony Stark.

Bucky always saves him. 

Bucky is always there for him in the ways Tony never was. 

It’s almost like a sixth sense for Bucky, just knowing when Peter begins to shake, the thread of the seams holding him together beginning to pool at his ankles. 

He feels familiar arms wind around his middle, the whirring vibranium limb brings him a comfort he had never quite known. Something that won’t remind him of Tony. The one flesh and blood, and other a marveling prosthetic. 

His pieces return to their rightful place, as trembling hands clutch against the older man’s. 

A delicate kiss is placed against his shoulder, where Bucky’s flannel doesn’t cover. Peter nearly purrs, but he can’t help it. Bucky’s arms are the safest place he’s ever known.

“You got one.” Bucky drawled, his voice low and husky from the nap he woke up from.

It’s not a question, and from the angle, Bucky can probably see the crumpling paper wedged in his hand. 

“I’m going.” Peter sighed, the tone in his voice signaling this wasn’t up for debate.

“I wasn’t going to stop you.” The other almost huffed, but Peter knew it was just fond exasperation.

That was a surprise. He’s seen the anger and frustration in Bucky’s eyes, when he watches Peter break time and time again. He had assumed he would forbid him from attending, for the sake of Peter’s own wellbeing.

Peter froze in his ministrations of gripping onto his hands as if his physical contact with Bucky was his lifeline.

“May I go with you?”

This was James Barnes speaking. Low and soft in his ear, ever the gentleman ‘ _I’ll have her home by ten sir_ ’. Peter never minded hearing or feeling James Barnes, Brooklyn’s Sweetheart. 

But this was also Bucky, watching Peter heal and grow, and wanting to be there with him, when he does. 

“Wouldn’t have gone without you.”


End file.
